Oz minister defends plan
Fri, 13 March 2015
Kevin Ponniah
Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton has heaped praise on the Cambodian government, which last month deported dozens of Montagnard asylum seekers back to Vietnam, as a “very responsible” partner in refugee resettlement.

In an interview yesterday, he said the controversial bilateral deal’s numerous critics will soon be proved wrong when up to five refugee families are initially settled in the Kingdom.

Cambodian officials are to travel to Nauru in the coming weeks to meet the approximately 400 refugees eligible for resettlement here in a bid to find three to five families willing to make the move.

No refugees processed in Australian-run detention centres on the South Pacific island have yet officially volunteered for the resettlement scheme, but Dutton said he had no doubt that sufficient numbers would agree to be part of the trial group and that many others would follow.

The deal – which was inked last September and will see Australia give Cambodia $35 million in extra aid over four years – has been lambasted by rights groups and opposition parties in both countries.

But the Australian minister, speaking to the Post before he departed for home after a 24-hour visit to Phnom Penh, claimed critics will be left embarrassed when the initial group is successfully resettled in Cambodia with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“I think the criticisms have been lacking substance, and I think they haven’t been based on fact, and I think some of the critics will be embarrassed when they understand the depth of the arrangement and the depth of support that will be provided,” he said.

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But the Australian minister, speaking to the Post before he departed for home after a 24-hour visit to Phnom Penh, claimed critics will be left embarrassed when the initial group is successfully resettled in Cambodia with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

“I think the criticisms have been lacking substance, and I think they haven’t been based on fact, and I think some of the critics will be embarrassed when they understand the depth of the arrangement and the depth of support that will be provided,” he said.